Charter school passes Dept. of Ed. muster

Tuesday

Feb 11, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Mike BodineSTAFF WRITERmbodine@ridgecrestca.com

The California Department of Education disagrees with Sierra Sands Unified School District findings and has approved, by unanimous vote, the renewal application for Ridgecrest Charter School.The Advisory Commission on Charter Schools voted unanimously to approve the application on Feb. 7 in Sacramento. When a charter school applies to be a recognized and authorized school by the state or when renewing its application to operate as an independent school, it must ask area school districts for sponsorship and minimal oversight. If a district refuses to sponsor the charter, as SSUSD has done four times in a row, the charter asks the SBE for sponsorship and approval.This is the second of a three-phase procedure for RCS in obtaining a sponsor. By law, a charter school has to renew its status to operate as such, and part of that process required the school have a sponsor. A charter first asks a local school district, in this case SSUSD that denied their request. The petition then goes to the California Department of Education for further review and, if approved, then to the ACCS. The petition will now go before the State Board of Education for approval in March. The SBE is expected to approve and become RCS’ sponsor for another five years.Sierra Sands denied the Charter sponsorship in November 2013. Ridgecrest Charter is the only State Board of Education-authorized school invited to apply for the 2014 California Distinguished School Awards Program.In a report published at the meeting Friday, the ACCS addressed the concerns from Sierra Sands.The Sierra Sands board denied the RCS petition, unanimously, on several counts. According to the SSUSD board: “The charter school presents an unsound educational program for the pupils to be enrolled in the charter school. (2) The petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth in the petition. (3) The petition does not contain the number of signatures required by subdivision (a) [of Education Code Section 47605]. (4) The petition does not contain an affirmation of each of the conditions described in subdivision (d) [of Education Code Section 47605]. (5) The petition does not contain reasonably comprehensive descriptions of [the 16 required elements].”The CDE found that the charter does indeed have a sound education program. The CDE addressed each finding by SSUSD.“Finding No. 1: The petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program presented in the petition.” Specifically SSUSD states that the charter school has inadequate staffing to support special education programs. SSUSD also stated that the charter school’s plan for English learners education plan was not up to par. “The plan for English learners (EL) is incomplete and does not provide data or information describing how the charter school will support its EL students. Based on state priority No. 2, implementation of academic content and performance standards including how the programs and services will enable English learners to access the common core academic content standards, RCS must implement the Common Core Standards and describe how EL students will gain academic content knowledge and English language proficiency,” SSUSD stated in its denial letter, included in the ACCS report. “However, no data or adequate program description was provided regarding how RCS will comply with the obligation to serve a student population reflective of the general population residing within the District’s boundaries and support its EL students.” RCS stated in its response to SSUSD’s findings that it has “two full time, credentialed special education teachers, as well as an RSP teacher. The full time resource teacher can service up to 28 students in her caseload. RCS contracts for speech and language services who can take up to 28 students in her caseload. The school has set aside room in the budget to hire an additional instructor if needed.”The school added that it also has an EL program and intervention program in place, including accredited instructors and use of the Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) techniques.The CDE does not agree with SSUSD’s finding that, “The petition presents an unsound educational program for the pupils to be enrolled in the charter school.”“The CDE finds the petitioners provided a reasonable description of the educational program. The CDE finds that the RCS petition provides information on how they will support EL students (p. 29 of the petition) and includes annual goals for EL students in state priorities 2 and 4 (pp. 37–38). The petition describes a comprehensive outline of their reclassification process. Additionally, the petitioners affirm that they will comply with all state and federal laws relating to EL students and will implement policies to assure proper placement, evaluation, and communication regarding ELs and the rights of students and parents,” according to the report.SSUSD stated in its denial that the charter school’s petition failed to “provide a reasonably comprehensive description of the 16 required elements.”Charter Elements Required Pursuant to Education Code Section 47605(b) include the following 16 elements, description of educational program, measurable pupil outcomes, method for measuring pupil progress, Go Employee qualifications, Health and Safety procedures, racial and ethnic balance, admission requirements, annual independent financial audits, suspension and expulsion procedures, retirement coverage, public school attendance alternatives, post-employment rights of employees, dispute resolution procedures, exclusive public school employer and closure procedures. The ACCS found RCS met all of the 16 element requirements.The CDE stated it denied one of the 11 elements that SSUSD cited the charter for not meeting. The CDE did side with SSUSD in that the charter admission requirements are not completely in line with Education Code Section 47605(d)(2)(B), but this would require a simple re-writing of the exact language used by the charter. Otherwise the CDE qualified the charter has having a “reasonably comprehensive description” of the policy.By law, a charter school must meet eight essential requirements that include a description of the annual goals; a description of the specific actions the school district will take during each year of the local control and accountability plan to achieve the goals; parental involvement, including efforts the school district makes to seek parent input in making decisions for the school district and each individual school site, and including how the school district will promote parental participation in programs for unduplicated pupils and individuals with exceptional needs; pupil achievement; pupil engagement; school climate; students access to teachers and instructional material; and, pupil outcomes. Tina Ellingsworth, director and principal of RCS, said the school met all but one of the eight, but part of the problem is with new state standards to be implemented next year, the Common Core. Ellingsworth said when the petition was drafted there was not yet information about how to fold the new standards into the petition.The CDE praised the charter school and called it a fine educational establishment.“The RCS petition demonstrates that the petitioners are likely to successfully implement the program set forth in the charter petition. The petitioner currently operates under SBE authorization and has a reasonable comprehension of the requirements of law, and a solid background in the educational, financial, and legal aspects of operating a charter school. The petitioners have sufficient background to assure the school’s success in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and business management. The petitioners have demonstrated willingness to work with CDE, have been responsive to, and compliant with requests for information, submission reports and necessary documents.“The RCS petition describes a comprehensive and significantly supportive educational program for all levels of learners and specialized student programs.”Ellingsworth said Monday that she and the rest of the school are very excited about the development and look forward to the SBE decision.